Communities Minister Meg Munn MP recently visited the UK Human Trafficking Centre, currently based at South Yorkshire Police Headquarters in Sheffield. Meg met Deputy Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell who will oversee this new national police unit. The centre, the first in Europe, was proposed by the Association of Chief Police Officer following ‘Operation Pentameter’, a 3 month operation combating trafficking gangs earlier this year.

Meg said of her visit:

‘I believe that this Centre will continue the excellent work achieved through ‘Operation Pentameter’, and improve the UK’s law enforcement response to human trafficking. This serious crime is a worrying international problem; the new centre will significantly aid police detection and increase arrests.’

One of the aims of the new Human Trafficking Centre is to provide the victim-centred approach which was a feature of ‘Operation Pentameter’. In that operation police forces were asked to provide local support services for victims of trafficking by developing local partnerships with appropriate service providers.

The UK Plan for combating Human Trafficking builds on the ‘EU Action Plan on Trafficking’ developed last year whilst the UK held the Presidency of the European Union. It focuses on measures where coordinated EU-level action can have a real impact in the fight against people trafficking, including common standards for data collection, increased sharing of intelligence and EU-wide information campaigns.